Blog

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by Andy Dickens

Generating new leads can seem like an uphill struggle even if you enjoy a challenge. Being in the sales business means using your previous experience to help you along, but of course you can’t rest on your laurels. So how do you generate new leads? There are the tried and tested ways such as cold calling, a monthly newsletter and ad words advertising with search engines. But here are a few methods which are taking off in the sales world….

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by Andy Dickens

It’s crucial in sales to build a good network. It’s the classic help me to help you that keeps on giving as you build more and more connections. So, how to do it? Well, here are the best ways to get you networking with the best of them! Image source – uberof202 ff (CC License) Keep it relevant Over time you’ll get better and better at quickly working out which are good leads and which prospects are…

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by Andy Dickens

When qualifying sales leads, it’s not just a question of selling. You personally need to make a lot of quick judgments and decisions about the needs of not only the person on the phone, but their company as a whole. Typically, qualifying leads follows the mantra of BANT: The Budget your lead has to work with Do they have the Authority to make decisions? How much do they Need your product or service? Yours and your lead’s individual Timescale It’s…

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by Andy Dickens

One of the best parts of being a salesperson is getting that deal sealed and signed off. But of course in order to get there, you have to call leads, qualify them, and chase prospects. In the sales business it’s not a question of if you’re going to call a prospect at a bad time; it’s a question of when! We all have different work and home life patterns, and the last thing you want to do is ruin the…

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by Andy Dickens

James Cridland | CC Licence Making a sales call takes concentration and determination, so it’s not uncommon to feel drained when you’re finished. Here are seven things to do at the end of a call, so that you don’t let tiredness come before progress. Connect Part of a sales call follow up involves connecting with your clients in various ways. First and foremost, sending a follow up email is often initially more suitable before making further telephone calls, as the…

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by Andy Dickens

Sales people have one of the toughest jobs in the business. You are required to at once make contact with sometimes a complete stranger, build a relationship with them, pitch them a convincing sell and finally sell that product to them. And sometimes all in the space of a ten minute phone call! The bottom line is this: To be a great sales person you need to hone your negotiation skills. Here are 10 key skills that all good sales…

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by Andy Dickens

Image Credit – Ant Jackson (CC License) When we’re trying to become better salespeople we often focus on everything that we should be saying – the perfect pitch, the perfect tone of voice, the perfect language – rather than what we shouldn’t be…

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by Andy Dickens

Sales isn’t always about how great you are at public speaking, or at convincing people to listen to what you have to say – if you have a negative mindset or don’t fully believe in what you have to say, it’ll come through in your speech and in your words. Your potential customers will hear that negativity and you could lose sales, so it’s a good idea to take charge of that moody mindset and transform it into a much…

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by Andy Dickens

In 2010 Dave Brailsford was asked to improve Team Sky, Great Britain’s cycling team. It seemed a massive task that would be impossible to do quickly. But Brailsford had a plan. He decided to use a concept called the ‘aggregation of marginal gains’. This theory is centred around the idea that a 1% margin of improvement in everything you do will lead to success. And that these small gains will add up to a large overall improvement. He changed everything,…

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by Andy Dickens

Twitter is home to a wealth of Key opinion leaders within the sales and marketing industry that practically live on the platform. These experts generously share their unique business insights and offer reams of intelligent commentary on industry developments. In addition to this, the platform allows users to actually engage with each other, meaning you can network with fellow industry experts, swap ideas on and discuss all the latest sales and marketing news. As the benefits of Twitter are so…